What Happened Last Night: Chris Bosh Is Clutch, The Final Four Is Set

Chris Bosh (!) hit a game-winner.

Remember that time Gregg Popovich sent all his star players home on a plane before a game against Miami? Remember how David Stern fined the Spurs $250,000 and there was various bickering about fairness and paying customers and integrity? Well Erik Spoelstra did the same thing last night against the Spurs, sitting LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Mario Chalmers for last night’s game in San Antonio. In that first matchup, the backup Spurs nearly pulled off the upset – it took a late Ray Allen three for the Heat to pull that out. Last night, we saw the reverse: a Chris Bosh-led Miami Heat team scrounging for points against San Antonio, until a final possession put the ball in Chris Bosh’s hands with his team down 1. Except Bosh nailed the shot, giving Miami the 88-86 victory.

Clearly Spoelstra and Popovich don’t want to show each their cards quiet yet; there’s a chance they’ll face in the NBA Finals, and these coaches are good enough to exploit every scrap of information. And, if we’re lucky, we might just see these two teams in June.

Michigan, Louisville round out Final Four teams.

Florida and Michigan wasn’t even close. Though the Wolverines won by 20 points, this felt like a 40-point game. At one point in the first half they were up 24, and they started the game on a 13-0 run. Florida tried to pound the ball inside to take advantage of their size advantage, but it was to no avail: the misses propelled Michigan fast break after Michigan fast break, and eventually left the Gators in a huge hole out of which they could not escape.

And then there was Louisville manhandling Duke in the second half. But no one will remember the game, only Kevin Ware’s broken leg which was, by far, the most gruesome injury we’ve ever seen. Hopefully he won’t become a symbol for Louisville basketball or redemption or something else to marginalize his suffering: he’s a kid who suffered a horrible injury, nothing less and especially nothing more. But most importantly he’s a kid, and not a metaphor. And the focus shouldn’t be how Louisville basketball recovers, emotionally, but how he recovers, emotionally.